Former AOL CEO Armstrong Predicts Ad Slump Will Be Worse Than in 2008

Former AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, a veteran digital ad executive, predicts the coronavirus will devastate ad spending more severely than either the 2008 financial crisis or the recession that followed Sept. 11.

And that is despite the fact that people are spending far more time watching TV and streaming video thanks to the quarantines. “For the first time in history, you’re probably going to have the highest point of media usage in the history of the United States and the lowest point of advertising in the U.S.,” said Armstrong in an interview with The Information.